Why Mediation? A Healthier Way of Resolving Conflict
Here are 4 Benefits of Mediation:
- Less Emotionally Damaging
- More Efficient and Private
- More Affordable
- The results bring into account all parties interests
Mediation does not just avoid the hostilities that litigation can create it preserves important assets that litigation can consume. Mediation diffuses conflict and promotes communication. When you choose mediation you have made a decision about which process you are taking, the parties have decided to work together to resolve their conflict.
Mediation is better way of preserving all relationships.
Many people ask me…. how does mediation work? My answer is always…
As a Qualified Mediator I remain neutral and help you both create an agreement that works for all parties. The mediation process involves a series of meetings that help us determine objectives and develop an outline of how each party wants the agreement to look like. These meetings usually run between 90 minutes and two hours long. The key to meditation is that all parties are willing to be transparent. These meetings are generally very productive, the number of meetings depends on the cooperation of all parties as well as the complexities of the file.
The agreement that is created is called the Memorandum of Understanding which is not intended to be a legally binding document. The intent is to incorporate the decisions described in the memorandum of understanding into a settlement agreement which will be prepared by a lawyer.
STEP 1. The initial meeting is One hour, I will meet with each of you separately to review the intake form (which you will complete before this meeting) and get an understanding of what topics we will be focusing on if we all agree mediation is the correct process.
STEP 2. The following meeting all parties are present. These meetings are usually 2 hours in length but can be shorter if the clients need time to digest the information. What is discussed at the meetings is decided by the parties each family is unique so the key issues for each are different.
STEP 3. Take the Memorandum of Understanding Agreement to your lawyers and review the document with them, in most cases one of the lawyers creates the Settlement Agreement and all parties must sign it.
If you’d like to book an appointment, please get in touch.